What We Do - What We Do - What We Do

Frontiers July 2015 Issue

what we do
Making a connection
For this IT employee, the real work isn’t just
performed on a computer
Ryan Kiggins is a systems and data
analyst with Information Technology
in Auburn, Wash. In this Frontiers
series that profiles employees talking
about their jobs, Kiggins explains
why he enjoys leaving the office
to go out on the factory floor with
employees and help them find
solutions to problems.
My goal is to spend as little time
behind my desk as possible.
By walking the factory floor
with employees who rely on our
IT solutions, I find that we are able
to help them identify waste, see
ways to improve what they are doing,
and create positive relationships
that make coming to work fun and
exciting. I also want my customers
to feel like IT is doing things with
and for them, instead of doing
things to them.
Most people know what the
experience of getting on a commercial
airplane is like, but getting out on
the floor and seeing airplanes being
assembled is truly jaw-dropping;
it never gets old. The sheer size
and complexity of what we do as a
company is energizing. What I try
to focus on every day is helping
the people who are creating and
delivering our amazing products.
I work with people from all parts of
Boeing—such as Boeing Fabrication
and the company’s product and
services programs—to translate
what they need into solutions that
make their work lives better. People
come to me with a problem of some
type, and I will go out and meet
with them, and find and deliver an
IT process or solution.
12 Boeing Frontiers
Earlier this year, for example, I
received a call from a senior manager
on the 767 tanker program. He’d
previously used a software tool from my
group that helped manage and track
kits on the 787, and he was looking for
a similar solution for the new 767 line,
which builds both the 767-300 Freighter
and the 767-2C, the platform for the
new KC-46A tanker.
I met his team in Everett, walked
the floor and identified a solution for
helping them manage their inventory.
With slight modifications to an existing
tool, we implemented a solution to the
program in just 35 calendar days. It
already has saved the 767 program
more than 2,300 labor hours.
In my opinion, this is the single
most important aspect of software
development—understanding the
actual problem that needs to be solved.
In many cases, the real problem ends
up being different from what the
person needing help described or
understood. Then it’s my job to define
the customer’s requirements in a way
that they can understand.
IT solutions are critical to automating
our factories so we can support new
airplane programs and achieve our
goals to increase production rates
by helping the folks building the
airplanes do so faster and safer,
and with better quality. n
lauren.e.mcfarland@boeing.com
by Ry an kiggins, as told to Lauren McFarland